Floor rack for refrigerator cars



March 14, 1939. C D BQNSALL 2,150,413

FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed March i5, 1957 3 sheets-sheet l A v\ H NJ km I l IIIEIIIIE J1" ILJIIEIIIIEIUIIIIIII Ll W March 14, 1939. c. D. BONsALL FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS s sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1937 March 14, y1939.

c. D. BvoNsALL FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 15, 1937 lllll II Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE FLooa RACK Fon REFRIGERATOR oARs Charles David Bonsall, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Y Application March 15, 19?;7, Serial No. 130,855

The invention relates to in 8 Claims.

sulated railway reand a heating means in the winter.

found that perishable comm It has been odities whichv have not been allowed to get too cold (freeze) or too hot (bake) have a high market value because they `have a longer storage life.

The racks for such refrigerator to support the lading in the tion to the insulated fioor of invention relates specifically to floor cars which comprise a forammous or perforated floor, arranged car in spaced relathe car so that air,

after it has been cooled by a refrigerant, or heated by a heater, may pass under the lading and through the foraminous floor and up through or between the lading.

Spaced apart wooden slats supported by wooden stringers have been pose, but such construction i cause it becomes insanitary,

used for this purs objectionablel beretains odors, be-

comes water sogged and heavy, and is expensive to maintain. v

The object of the invention rack for a refrigerator car W to support vertical loads and in a horizontal direction (to of a shifting load to move t is to provide a floor hich is very strong has great strength resist the tendency he floor rack sideupon and rolling trucks ther Another object is to provide a foraminous floor sup-ported entirely by perforated spools so that air may circulate through the foraminous floor,

through and between the spools, and another object is to provide means to adjust the height of such ioraminous floor from the fioor of the car.

Another object is to support such foraminous floor by a plurality of duplicate spools which can be stored in anticipation of repairs.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a typical plan of a railway car provided with my improved floor rack.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of the car of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged v doorway floor racks.

iew of the end and Figs. -4 andr 5 show the hinge construction between an end floor rack and the side wall, wherein Fig. 5 is a section on. line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Figs 6 and 7 show the hinge construction between an end and doorway floor rack, wherein Fig. 7 is a section on line 1-1 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows an end oor rack (in solid lines) in its normal position on the floor of the car and in dotted lines adjacent the side wall of the car.

Fig. 9 shows a section through 9 9 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 shows a section through I -I Il in Fig. 3.

Fig. 11 shows a modified construction.

Railway cars, particularly railway refrigerator cars, comprise end walls I and side walls 2 with a doorway 3 in each side wall which is usually midway between the end walls. The floor rack for the entire car usually comprises several units, such as end licor racks 5 which extend from the doorways 3 to the bulkheads 6 and middle floor 20 racks 'I which extend between the doorways. The end 5 and middle 'l floor racks may also each comprise several units.

The floor rack comprises a perforated or otherwise apertured metallic plate 9 and a plurality 25 of spacers l0 secured to the plate (preferably by welding) which engage the floor II of the refrigerator car to provide a space I2 for movement of air under the load from the refrigerant chamber or heater chamber I4. A wire netting, expanded metal or other foraminous metallic sheet may come within the scope of this invention.

Each spacer I0 (see Fig. 5) comprises a perforated wall Il surrounding a hollow portion i8, which hollow portion registers with an aperture I9 in the metallic plate 9 so that horizontally moving air under the floor racks may enter the hollow portion I8 of the spacer I0 through the perforations 20 and thence upwardly through the aperture I9. The spacers IIl in the doorway oor racks 'l are preferably closer together than the spacers in the end floor racks 5 (see Fig. 3) on account of the greater abuse these particular floor racks are subjected to, and preferably the spacers in the doorway floor racks 'I are preferably closer together adjacent the doorways (see Fig. 3). The perforations 20 are preferably positioned on the side of the spacer wall I! from which the air is coming which is, generally speaking, that side which is nearest the refrigerant chamber I4. The opposite side wall 35 of the spacer may remain imperforate. (See Fig. 11.)

The perforated wall I1 of each spacer is preferably cylindrical and provided with an upper 55 lateral peripherical iiange 2l secured to the apertured plate and fitting the depending flange 22 surrounding the aperture Il?.r The spacer is also provided with a lateral peripherical flange 24 providing a base which rests upon the floor Il of the car. The upper lateral flange 2| stiffens the metallic plate around the aperture i9 both in vertical and horizontal directions. The lower lateral flange 24 stilfens the lower portion of the spacer l' against horizontal forces and also increases the bearing area of the spacers upon the flooi` of the car. Other apertures 21 may be provided in the metallic plate between the'apertures i9 registering with the respective hollows I8 of the spacers to increase the permissible air movement through the metallic plate.

In order to increase or decrease the height of the metallic plate 9 from the floor Il of the car I provide preferably wooden shims 30 (see Fig. 10) each having a part 3| which penetrates the hollow portion I8 of a spacer and preferably has a driving t therewith to hol-d it in place when the rack is swung up adjacent the side wall of the car. Each shim preferably also has a shoulderV 32 which engages the ange 24 of the spacer.

Figs. 4 and 5 show the method of hinging the end iioor rack to the side wall of the car, wherein the hinge butt 4B is attached to the side wall 2 of the car and the hinge strap 4| is preferably welded to the floor rack 9. To obtain greater bearing area and more wel-ding the strap 4l preferably extends lengthwise of the car and is cut out, as shown in Fig. 4, for the iiange 2| of the spacer l0.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the hinge construction between an end iioor rack and a doorway rack, wherein the strap 4d is secured to the doorway rack 'l and the hinge 45 is secured to the end rack 5.

Fig. 9 shows the eXtra foot 46 which may be applied to additionally support the margin of the doorway floor rack. This foot 46 may extend all the way along the doorway floor rack.

Fig. l0 shows an extra stiiener 41 along the threshold of the doorway. This figure also shows the shim 30.

Fig. 11 shows a spacer I0 with perforations 2li on one side only, with the opposite side thereof imperforate.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the pre'- ferred form of the invention, though'it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to' the exact details ofk construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A floor rack for a refrigerator car comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each of said spacers comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in said plate.

2. A floor rack for a refrigerator car comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each of said spacers comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in said plate and other apertures in said plate between the aforesaid apertures. Y

3. A oor rack for a refrigerator car comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers, each of said spacers comprising a cylindrical perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in said plate, each of said spacers having an upper lateral peripherical iiange secured to said plate and a lower lateral peripherical flange resting upon the floor of the car.

4. A floor rack for a refrigerator car comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each of said spacers comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in said plate, and removable shims for varying the height of the plate above the floor of the car, each of said shims having a part penetrating the hollow portion of a spacer and a shoulder engaging the wall thereof.-

5. A iioor rack for a refrigerator car comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, eachof said spacers comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in said plate, one side of each of said walls being imperforate.

6, A refrigerator car having end walls, side walls and a doorway in each side wall, the combination of end oor racks between the -doorways and the end walls respectively, and middle floor racks between the doorways, each of said floor racks comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each spacer comprising a perforated wall surrounding ahollow portion registering with an aperture in the plate, the spacers in said -doorway racks being closer together than the spacers in the -end floor racks.

7. A refrigerator car having end walls, side walls and a doorway in each side wall, the combination of end oor racks between the doorways and the end walls respectively, and middle iioor racks between the doorways, each of said floor racks comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each spacer comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in the plate, the spacers adjacent the thresholds of the doorways being closer together than elsewhere.

8. In a refrigerator car having a doorway, the combination of a iioor rack comprising an apertured metallic plate and a plurality of spacers secured thereto which engage the floor of the car, each spacer comprising a perforated wall surrounding a hollow portion registering with an aperture in the plate, the spacers adjacent the thresholds of the doorways being closer together than elsewhere.

CHARLES DAVID BONSALL. 

